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Mum’s baked pasta

What some of you may not know is the fact that unlike many foodies out there who started their love relationship with cooking or baking early on, yours truly was a late bloomer. You see, studying dentistry leaves you little time for other activities. Despite the fact that my mum is a really talented cook and baker, I learnt next to nothing from her (something I came to deeply regret later).Part of it was the fact that I had little time to spare with all the studying I had to do and another part was the fact that my mum cooks (and bakes!)without measurements. She can double a recipe or half it and get it perfect almost every time without the help of measurements. Impressive? sure! Easy to learn from? No.

Sure I occasionally helped mum with a cake here or some cookies there but I never made anything alone from A to Z. As for cooking, I only helped with the prep work, things like chopping vegetables and stirring soup lol. You may not believe it but the first meal I cooked whole from scratch was the meal I prepared for my husband a couple of weeks after our wedding!That was a few months short of eight years ago.

It was a long process and it wasn’t easy. I can’t remember the number of times I tossed out dough that didn’t rise or cakes that rose only to fall again. Nor do I want to remember the number of disasters, burnt, under or over cooked meals I made over those 8 years.

Now after 9 months of blogging I realized that not only do I want to document my own recipes and food related adventures but this blog could actually be the motive and the chance for me to learn and document some of my mum’s amazing recipes. Recipes like today’s baked pasta that I have yet to find someone who tried it and didn’t ask for the recipe after the first couple of bites.I have already shared my mum’s awwameh and her orange bar cookies if you like them then stay tuned there will be more to come .

I hope you will enjoy this part of my cooking journey as much as I am enjoying it. Sure the fact that mum does not measure and keeps tweaking and changing the recipe every few months is driving me mad but that is part of the fun, isn’t it?

Today’s baked pasta recipe is one of my mum’s signature dishes. The original recipe came from an Egyptian friend mum met while dad was working abroad but mum changed and added so much to recipe (and she is still adding and changing lol) that I think the recipe I am sharing today would probably have little to do with that original.

The secret to this baked pasta recipe is the sauce. It is a modified bechamel sauce that takes the recipe to the next level. Not only is it pink as opposed to the traditional white but also it is so rich and full of flavor that you will want to eat it with a spoon

Mum’s Baked Pasta

500 grams pasta

300- 500 grams minced meat (depending on how thick you want the meat layer to be)

1 medium onion

olive oil

a dash of pepper

dash of paprika

dash of cinnamon

dash of cardamom

dash of cumin

For the pink bechamel

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons butter (you can use olive oil or a mixture of oil and butter )

4 cups of milk

1/4- 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

salt to taste

3 tablespoons of cheese (you can use any, all or a combination of mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, cream cheese)

2 eggs beaten

3 tablespoons bread crumbs

3 teaspoons tomato paste

Cook the pasta to a minute or two less than the manufacturer instructions, drain, rinse in cold water set aside.

Saute the onion in the olive oil until it softens

Add the meat and spices and stir occasionally until the meat fluids are cooked away . Take off the heat.

Prepare the béchamel

Heat oil or butter in a pot

Add the flour and stir until the color begins to change(you don’t want it to go dark or else it will affect the final color of the bechamel sauce)

Lower the heat

Add the milk gradually while whisking .(you need to whisk until you have added all the milk to prevent lumps from forming)

Keep stirring until the béchamel thickens

Add the cream and the cheese mixture and stir for two minutes

Allow the bechamel to cool for 10 -15 minutes

In a bowl add a little of the bechamel to the beaten eggs, mix well.

Add the egg mixture to the bechamel and stir well

Add the bread crumbs and the tomato paste and stir until homogenous

Assemble the pasta

In a baking dish add a layer of Bechamel

Then add half the pasta.

top the pasta with a layer of bechamel then add the meat layer

Add the rest of the pasta and spread the rest of the bechamel sauce on top.

44Comments

This looks so good. I like the pink twist to the bechamel sauce. Normally, I’m not a big fan of bechamel, but I think the tomato past would change that. I also like to combo of spices used too. I’m definitely going to give this one a try!

I am not big in bechamel too..I only make it for lasagna but this bechamel is really different, the addition of tomato paste and bread crumbs transform it greatly
If you ever get to give this a go please let me know what you think

MMM! This looks amazing! I love the idea of Pink Bechamel, I’ve made a beige/brown one before, but not pink! I’m going to have lots of fun in the kitchen during my holidays, I think I’ll try this on a cool summer’s day 🙂
Thanks for sharing! 😀
You sure inherit lots of talent from your mum!! It must be in the genes 😉

Our Mothers were cut from the same cloth. “Use a little of this,”, “A bit more of that.” Once you crack the code, though, plenty of good food is your reward. This baked pasta looks wonderful and I cannot wait to try it. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I can totally relate to your story!!! Before getting married I would never cook. I would only bake. My mom too would do everything without measuring. When I would ask for a recipe it would be so hard b/c she doesn’t measure! I only started cooking after getting married….and doing it more regularly after having kids.

Oh I love this dish on so many levels! First of all that amazing bechamel sauce – that´s a first for me! Then because I love baked pasta, I think this is a great recipe. And third, because it makes me think of a special little connection between Big Man and my mum. I rarely make pasta at home as it´s not his favourite. The first time we spent Easter at my parents (in fact his first trip meeting my family) I warned him there would be pasta. My mum made her amazing “pasta al forno” and he ate so much he could barely touch the next courses! She always makes it for him now and, like your mum, never measures so it´s hard for me to pass on her recipes 🙂 Brilliant post 🙂

I didn’t learn from my mom either- even though she teaches people how to cook for a living! Yikes. I regretted it too but she is still around and now enjoys the time we can spend together in the kitchen. Your baked pasta looks lovely. I love bechamel!

What a delicious looking pasta dish! I’ve been looking forward to this recipe ever since I saw you mention it on Facebook! Love the idea of a pink bechamel sauce… it all just looks so good!!! It was really fun to learn about your cooking background, too 🙂

Thank you Jessica
the bottom should look the same too but the pan I usually bake this in was not available so I had to use a smaller one and as a result the botton layer got squished to fit everything in

Even though you are a late bloomer, now you can say you are dentist AND great cook. It’s win win!!! I enjoyed reading about your mom and I totally wish that she’s my cooking teacher (or you can be one for me 😉 ). So you did have those days where dough didn’t rise? Hmmm… that actually motivates me. I feel like all bakers were born as a baker but it’s not true huh. Your blog is awesome already but with your mom’s recipes I think your online cookbook will be complete!

Sawsaaan I wanna try this recipe like now now! I’m totally in love with macarona bechamel, the Egyptian regular that is 🙂 So excited to try this out, I just came from the store and got all the ingredients. It will be my first time making my own bechamel sauce as well, so pretty exciting haha! I’m just starting to cook since I got married as well (and I wanted to be a dentist too, how cool is that!). Ever since I found your blog last ramadan for the 2atayef, I’ve been wandering around for all sorts of delicious meals you’ve put out here. Your shish tawuk is amaze!! It has been my succes story for when people come to visit us lol! One question regarding this recipe though! How many servings is this recipe for? It’s just me and my husband, so if I devide everything into 2, will that make it? 😀 Let me know!

Hello Eman
So sorry for the delay and thank you SO MUCH for your sweet comment 🙂
This recipe will easily feed 4, so if it is just the two of you , you can easily divide it in half
Or you can keep it as is and reheat the leftovers the next day
What I do when I reheat it is break the blocks apart then heat it in the oven. My dad likes it better the next day actually!